Front Cover: Fabrication and Functioning of Magnetically Gated PET Nanochannels (ChemNanoMat 7/2020)

A magnetically controlled conical nanochannel is fabricated by grafting ferroferric oxide nanoparticles into the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) nanochannel via bridging of DNA single strands. The nanochannel can be physically closed/opened to control the ionic/molecular transport in the nanochannel within sub-seconds using a permanent magnet. This mechanism may shine light on pigeon homing under the Earth's magnetic field, and could be widely used in noncontact control of micro/nanofluidic devices, as well as in smart drug delivery (superficial paste) controlled by external magnets. The background shows the colorful Danxia landform of rich iron ore in Zhangye, China. More information can be found in the Full Paper by Guanghua Du et al.